Roller beds for conveying billets



July 15, 1969 Filed March 28, 1968 E. T. SACK ET AL ROLLER BEDS FORCONVEYING BILLETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 United States Patent ()1 ice3,455,435 Patented July 15, 1969 Int.Cl. B65g 47/24 US. Cl. 198-33 2Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roller bed for conveying heavyrolling mill billets such as ingots or heavy blooms has twoside guidesdisposed one on each side of a train of rollers for shifting the billettransversely on the rollers and, to enable a rectangular billet on therollers to be tipped over on its side, one side guide has a device forlifting the billet from underneath to tip it over and the other sideguide has a guide plate to form a support for the tipped over billet andlower it gently onto the rollers. The guide plate is fixed rigidly tothe other side guide and the other side guide itself with the plate hasa driving mechanism for tilting it about a longitudinal axis extendingparallel to the direction of conveyance of the roller train so that thecorner of the tipped billet can slide gently down the plate. The guideplate has parts which extend downwards far enough in between the rollersof the train to ensure that the lower edge of the plate projectsdownwards between the rollers whatever the angular position of the otherside guide so that the billet is supported by the fplate until it hasslipped down right on to the rollers.

In rolling mills, ingots, heavy blooms and other heavy billets to berolled are conveyed to the roll stands by roller beds. One kind ofroller bed has two side guides disposed one on each side of a train ofrollers. These side guides are capable of traversing to shift the billetto be rolled sideways. For various reasons the billet sometimes has tobe turned over on its side before entering the roll stand, that is tosay the billet is rotated through 90. For this purpose one of the sideguides is equipped with a device for lifting one edge of the billet fromunderneath, to tip the billet over. This device serves well enough inhandling comparatively light billets, because a light billet can beallowed to topple over under the action of gravity on to the rollers.However, a heavy billet cannot be allowed to fall freely on to therollers in this way because it would damage them.

To prevent damage by a freely falling heavy billet the second side guidehas been provided with means for receiving the tilted billet, so as tolet it down fairly gently on to the train of rollers. In existing rollerbeds these means consist of guide levers attached to the second sideguide. The guide levers extend horizontally in a direction parallel tothe axes of the train of rollers, and they are equipped with curvedguide surfaces which extend downwards far enough to ensure that in allpositions their lower edges are situated between the rollers of theroller train.

However, when it comes to handling particularly heavy billets, thesemeans mounted on the second side guide for guiding the billet when it isbeing turned over are too weak to withstand the considerable verticaland horizontal forces applied by the billet.

The object of the present invention is to provide a roller bed ofthe'kind described which is capable of overcoming these difiiculties.

To this end, according to this invention, in a roller bed of the kinddescribed, in which one side guide has a device for lifting the billetfrom underneath to tip it over and the other side guide has a device forreceiving the tipped billet and letting it down gently on to therollers, the device on the other side guide comprises an inwardly facingguide plate fixed rigidly to the guide which is tiltable by a drivingmechanism about a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the directionof conveyance of the roller train, the guide plate having partsextending downwards far enough to ensure that its lower edge projectsdown between the rollers whatever the angular position of the other sideguide. The invention is based on the idea that the forces applied by thebillet when it is being turned over should not be taken by separatelevers or arms but should be taken directly by the second side guide.This structural member, that is to say the second side guide, is alreadya particularly rigid structure because it has to be able to shift theslab sideways across the roller train.

The second side guide is generally a rigid beam and by providing it witha guide plate as described above and making it tiltable it is quitestrong enough to receive the billet and let it down gently.

The mechanism for tilting the second side guide is preferably ahydraulic ram. However in order to relieve this hydraulic vain of theheaviest loads, in the preferred form of the invention the second sideguide is provided with a locking device by which it can be locked in atleast two angular positions.

By this means, the forces applied to the second side guide by the billetin these two or more positions do not need to be taken by the hydraulicram.

An example of a roller bed constructed in accordance with the inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section on the line A-A in FIG- URE 1, showing thetwo side guides in their initial positions; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the sideguides in other operating positions.

On one side of a train of rollers 1 there is a side guide 2, and on theother side a second side guide 3. The two side guides are very rigid boxstructures. One of the functions of the two side guides is to shift abillet B transversely over the surface of the rollers 1, in the usualway, For this purpose the side guides are mounted on transverse beams 4and 5 capable of travelling sideways by rolling transversely onlongitudinally extending rollers 6. The driving mechanisms for bringingabout this movement are not shown in the drawings.

Considering firstly the right-hand side guide 2, at the side nearest tothe train of rollers there are manipulator arms 8 capable of movingvertically in vertical grooves 7. Each manipulator arm 8 is equipped atits lower end with a manipulator hook 9, situated between two of therollers 1. In the initial position shown in FIG. 2, the manipulator hook9 is situated below the plane 10 of the roller train 1. The manipulatorarms 8 are actuated by bellcrank levers 12 which pivot on a bearing 11mounted on the side guide 2. The pivoting movement is effected by meansof a hydraulic ram (not shown) acting through a pull-rod 13. When themanipulator arms are lifted into the position shown in FIGURE 3 bypulling on the pull-rod 13, the hooks 9 project above the plane 10 ofthe roller train. All this is customary practice.

On the other hand, the left-hand side guide 3 is capable not only oftraversing in the usual way, but also of turning about a longitudinalaxis X as shown in FIGURES 2 to 4. For this purpose the side guide 3 hastransversely projecting plates 14 which run in a bearing 15 mounted onthe transverse beam 5, so that the side guide 3 can tilt about thelongitudinal axis X. Further plates 16 are connected to the pistons ofhydraulic rams 17, which are also mounted on the transverse beam 5. Theside guide 3 is also equipped with locking arms 19 which pivot onbearings 18 and have notches 20 capable of engaging with projections 21on the upper edge of the transverse beam 5. This is a lockingarrangement to take the load off the hydraulic rams 17. The side guide 3can be locked in this way alternatively either in the position shown inFIG- URE 2 or in the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The locking arms19 are lifted into a released position by hydraulic rams 22. Thereleased position is shown in FIGURE 2 in chain-dotted lines.

At the face of the side guide 3 adjacent the roller train 1, the guide 3has a guide plate 23 made up of several sections and somewhat curvednear its top and bottom edges. In the initial position shown in FIGURE 2the lower edges of the sections of the guide plate 23 project downwardsbetween the rollers 1 far enough to ensure that when the guide plate isin the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, that is to say when the sideguide 3 is fully tilted, the lowest edges of the sections of the guideplate 23 are still below the plane of the train of rollers 1.

The operation of the arrangement will now be described, assuming thatinitially the billet B is standing on edge on the roller train as shownin FIGURE 2. The intention is to tip the slab over, that is to say inthis case to lie it on its face. In the first phase of the operation theleft-hand side guide 3 is first of all released, by means of thehydraulic rams 2. The side guide 3 is then rotated from the positionshown in FIGURE 2 into the position shown in FIGURE 3, and is thenlocked again by lowering the locking arms 19. The side guide 3, which isnow in the tilted position, is then traversed, by movement of thetransverse beam 5, inwards towards the billet B until the lower parts ofthe sections of the guide plate 23 just touch the lower left-hand edgeof the billet B. The righthand side guide 2 is then traversed inwardstowards the billet, into the position shown in FIGURE 3, whereupon themanipulator arms 8 are lifted and the manipulator hooks 9 tip the slabover, as shown in FIGURE 3, so that it now lies against the guide plate23. This movement produces practically no impact, because the slab istilted, about its lower left-hand edge, to only just beyond its positionof equilibrium. In other words the slab just topples over and gentlycomes to rest against the guide plate 23. From the position shown inFIGURE 3, the two side guides 2 and 3 are traversed outwards by movementof their supporting transverse beams 4 and 5. During this movement thebillet B slides downwards with its upper left-hand edge slidingdownwards over the surface of the guide plate 23.

The'lower left-hand edge of the billet slides axially along the rollers1, and its right-hand lower edge slides upwards along the inner verticalsurfaces 24 of the right-hand side guide 2. Towards the end of thismovement the billet is gently deposited on to the surface of the rollertrain. FIG- URE 4 shows the slab in an intermediate position.

The sequence of movement can if desired be different; what matters ineach case is that the considerable forces applied by the billet aretaken directly by the rotatable side guide 3, that is to say without theaid of mobile intermediate mechanical parts.

We claim:

1. In a roller bed for conveying ingots, heavy blooms or other heavyrolling mill billets, said bed including a train of parallel rollers,means rotatably supporting said rollers to form said train, side guidesdisposed one on each side of said train of rollers and means for movingsaid guide means for shifting said billet transversely of said rollers,one of said guide means including means for lifting said billet fromunderneath to tip said billet and the other of said guide meansincluding means for receiving said tipped billet and lowering it gentlyonto said rollers, the improvement wherein said means for receiving saidtipped billet and lowering it gently onto said rollers comprises aninwardly facing guide plate, means rigidly fixing said guide plate tosaid other guide means, means tiltably mounting said other guide meansand a driving mechanism for tilting said other guide means about alongitudinal axis extending parallel to the direction of conveyance ofsaid roller train, said guide plate including parts extending downwardsbetween said rollers, said downwardly extending parts having their loweredges below the plane of conveyance of said roller train in all tiltedangular positions of said other guide means.

2. A roller bed as claimed in claim 1, wherein said other side guideincludes locking means for locking said other side guide means in atleast two positions into which said other guide means is movable by saiddriving mechanrsm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 742,314 10/1903 Hampton et al.2141 899,832 9/1908 Mekeel l98-33 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary ExaminerFRANK E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2l41

